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No formal direct talks have been held between the US and Iran for a decade. Now, as Donald Trump continues to threaten direct military attacks against the regime, Turkey is stepping in as a last-ditch mediator.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will travel to Ankara for talks aimed at preventing a US attack, as Turkish diplomats seek to convince Tehran it must offer concessions over its nuclear programme, if it is to avert a potentially devastating conflict.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, proposed a video conference between Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian. It’s not yet known if the two sides will agree to the virtual sit down.

Araghchi’s visit on Friday comes against the backdrop of urgent international diplomacy and increasingly aggressive threats from both sides.

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday that his department would be able to deliver on any military instructions given by Trump. “They [Iran] have all the options to make a deal,” he said. “They should not pursue nuclear capabilities. And we will be prepared to deliver whatever this president expects.”

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Donald Trump on Thursday sued the US treasury department and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn over the disclosure of his tax returns to the media in 2019 and 2020.

In a complaint filed in Miami federal court, Trump, his adult sons, and his namesake company said the agencies failed to take “mandatory precautions” to prevent former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn from leaking their tax returns to “leftist media outlets”, including the New York Times and ProPublica.

Donald Trump on Thursday sued the US treasury department and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn over the disclosure of his tax returns to the media in 2019 and 2020.

In a complaint filed in Miami federal court, Trump, his adult sons, and his namesake company said the agencies failed to take “mandatory precautions” to prevent former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn from leaking their tax returns to “leftist media outlets”, including the New York Times and ProPublica.

The plaintiffs said they suffered “significant and irreparable harm” to their reputations and financial interests, and may seek punitive damages because the leaks were either willful or resulted from gross negligence.

Thursday’s lawsuit puts Trump in the unusual position of suing government agencies that are part of the executive branch, which he leads.

The IRS is part of the treasury department. Neither agency immediately responded to requests for comment after business hours.

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President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to sidestep the United Nations through his new Board of Peace appears to have inadvertently backfired after major world powers rejected U.S. aspirations for it to have a larger international mandate beyond the Gaza ceasefire and recommitted their support for the over 80-year-old global institution.

The board to be chaired by Trump was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing his plan for Gaza’s future. But the Republican president’s ambitions have expanded to envisioning the board as a mediator of worldwide conflicts, a not very subtle attempt to eclipse the Security Council, which is charged with ensuring international peace and security.

The board’s charter also caused some dismay by stating Trump will lead it until he resigns, with veto power over its actions and membership.

His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, tried to ease concerns by saying the board’s focus right now is only on the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire plan.

“This is not a replacement for the U.N., but the U.N. has served very little purpose in the case of Gaza other than the food assistance,” Rubio said at a congressional hearing Wednesday.

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The Trump administration has overhauled a set of nuclear safety directives and shared them with the companies it is charged with regulating, without making the new rules available to the public, according to documents obtained exclusively by NPR.

The sweeping changes were made to accelerate development of a new generation of nuclear reactor designs. They occurred over the fall and winter at the Department of Energy, which is currently overseeing a program to build at least three new experimental commercial nuclear reactors by July 4 of this year.

The changes are to departmental orders, which dictate requirements for almost every aspect of the reactors' operations — including safety systems, environmental protections, site security and accident investigations.

NPR obtained copies of over a dozen of the new orders, none of which is publicly available. The orders slash hundreds of pages of requirements for security at the reactors. They also loosen protections for groundwater and the environment and eliminate at least one key safety role. The new orders cut back on requirements for keeping records, and they raise the amount of radiation a worker can be exposed to before an official accident investigation is triggered.

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Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday signed a law that will open the nation’s oil sector to privatization, reversing a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.

Lawmakers in the country’s National Assembly approved the overhaul of the energy industry law earlier in the day, less than a month after the brazen seizure of then-President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military attack in Venezuela’s capital.

As the bill was being passed, the U.S. Treasury Department officially began to ease sanctions on Venezuelan oil that once crippled the industry, and expanded the ability of U.S. energy companies to operate in the South American nation, the first step in plans outlined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio the day before. The moves by both governments on Thursday are paving the way for yet another radical geopolitical and economic shift in Venezuela.

“We’re talking about the future. We are talking about the country that we are going to give to our children,” Rodríguez said.

Rodríguez proposed the changes in the days after U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration would take control of Venezuela’s oil exports and revitalize the ailing industry by luring foreign investment.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani commended the protesters who took over the lobby of a Hilton hotel on Tuesday to demonstrate against ICE.

“Mayor Mamdani commends the protestors who exercised their right to protest against ICE today. As he has said, ICE is a rogue agency that has repeatedly carried out cruel, inhumane, and lawless raids and arrests of American citizens,” his spokesperson said. “The Mayor is also pleased with the NYPD’s response to the protest and that today’s demonstration concluded without violence.”

Around 70 people were arrested during the protest, held for almost an hour at a Hilton hotel in Tribeca, according to a local immigration group. It’s believed that ICE agents are being housed at the location.

The Department of Homeland Security previously condemned the Hilton franchise after owners of a Minneapolis hotel canceled reservations for ICE agents. Hilton responded, saying the actions were “not reflective of Hilton values of being welcoming to all.”

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A pizzeria worker posing as an FBI agent and armed with a pie cutter is facing federal charges after he tried to bust Luigi Mangione out of jail, according to a criminal complaint obtained by USA TODAY.

Mark Anderson of Mankato, Minnesota, was charged on Thursday, Jan. 29, with impersonating an FBI agent after he showed up to a federal jail in New York City the night before and said he had a court order to release Mangione, according to the complaint.

When Bureau of Prisons officers at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn asked to see Anderson’s FBI credentials, the complaint says the 36-year-old produced a Minnesota driver’s license, said he was armed and "displayed and threw" numerous documents at the officers.

Officers then searched Anderson’s bag and found a circular steel blade that looked like a small pizza cutter wheel, in addition to a barbecue fork, the complaint said.

Federal officials say that Mark Anderson was carrying a barbecue fork, what appears to be a pizza cutter and a Minnesota driver's license when he tried to free Luigi Mangione from custody.

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Three artists have now dropped out of Kid Rock's 2026 Rock the Country tour.

After rapper Ludacris said in mid-January he would not be on the festival tour, headlined by Rock and other vocal conservatives including Jason Aldean, two more artists – country singers Morgan Wade and Carter Faith – have reportedly backed out of the lineup.

Days after the lineup – which also includes Blake Shelton, Jelly Roll, Creed, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Lynard Skynard and Nelly – was revealed on Monday, Jan. 12, a rep for Ludacris, 48, told Rolling Stone that the inclusion of the rapper was "a mix-up. Lines got crossed and he wasn't supposed to be on there." Media personality Ebro Darden also relayed the message that the rapper was "never" booked on the lineup.

The clarification came after uproar from fans, who reacted in confusion to Ludacris' appearance. Fellow rapper Nelly has also faced similar backlash for performing on conservative stages in the past, including at the first Rock the Country festival and at President Donald Trump's inauguration.

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